


Figure It Out

by mythomagicallydelicious



Series: Toe Bean Buds [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Fluff, Gen, The Journals (Gravity Falls)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 10:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12910125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythomagicallydelicious/pseuds/mythomagicallydelicious
Summary: Stan likes to mess with the kids a little bit, and having a cat only helps him out overall.





	Figure It Out

Stan likes consistently confusing Dipper and Mabel by not telling them the name of his cat. Little Bud (who is quite a bit bigger, having grown into a full-grown cat long before the next thirty years) will just respond to his tone, but also knows a few of the various names it gets called as well.

In one day Stan called Little Bud: Stripes, Spots, Polka Dots, Caitie (like cat, heh heh, get it kids?  _Grunkle Stan, you’ve never called it that before!_  Heh, well, I am now. Here, Caitie, Caitie!  _Ugh, Grunkle Stan!_ ), Stinker, Stan Jr, Money Bags, Clawman, Dog, Owl, and Not-the-Goat. 

It drove both Dipper and Mabel to madness, trying to catch a consistency in the names. Dipper makes a bunch of charts to try and figure out what the cat’s name is. For a little while, he has more charts dedicated to the cat than to the Author. 

Mabel begs Stan to tell her the cat’s real name so she can show it all the love in the world, but Stan still refuses, so Mabel just picks up something from the theme of names Grunkle Stan has and calls the cat Kitty Baby.

But one day when it’s just Dipper in the living room, the cat comes strolling in and settles next to him, stretching out over his lap while he was reading in Grunkle Stan’s chair. Dipper puts the journal away and starts petting the cat, wishing he knew its name. He starts talking to the cat though, telling him how cool he looks. “You’re a pretty cool cat, Buddy. Just a big bad cool cat, huh? Huh?” vigorously scratching Little Bud between the ears. He calms down and starts stroking over the front legs and paws, a little amazed at how chill the cat was being with him.

He’s petting one front paw when he realizes something looks strange. He counts and finds the front left paw has six little toes, instead of five. “Whoa, buddy! This is so cool! You’ve got six fingers, just like the Author!” And Dipper starts chattering away at the cat, talking about the journal he found and petting his new Buddy, as the cat relaxes further and falls asleep.

Unbeknownst to Dipper, Stan had walked down the hall while Dipper had been talking. At first he had just grinned at Dipper being nice to his Little Bud, but then he started talking about six fingers, and a journal, and Stan felt his heart leap with excitement. Eventually Dipper fell asleep as well, and Stan found the third journal beside him, tucked into the seat cushion and the armrest.

He ran to the basement to read and make copies as fast as he could. He thanked his lucky stars for Little Bud, and resolved to give him a special treat later as a reward.  _He was so close, and it was all because of that cat._

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized that until this moment, despite Stan having called him "Little Six" previously, you guys may not have known that Little Bud has six toes on his front left paw. That little revelation gave Stan access to Journal 3 earlier than in the show, but it still takes defeating Gideon to get the second journal. The timeline for activating the portal doesn't really change, in this case.
> 
> (It just makes a happier Stan in the mean-time)


End file.
